Device for use in securing panels to wall and ceiling structure in rooms



Sept. 15, 1959 D. E. CLEARY 2,904,140

- DEVICE FOR USE IN SECURING PANELS TO WALL AND CEILING STRUCTUREIN ROOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 11, 1955 f/GJ- .//C f gzk INVENTOR. DEN/W5 E. CLEAR) ATTORNEYS D. E. CLEARY' DEVICE FOR USE IN SECURING PANELS T0 WALL AND CEILING STRUCTURE IN ROOMS Sept. 15, 1959 Filed July 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR. DENNIS E. CLEAR) A TTOPNEVS- United States Patent C) DEVICE. FOR. USE. IN SECURING PA'NELS TO WALL AND CEILING STRUCTURE; IN ROOMS Dennis E. Cleary, Ukiali, Calif.

Application July 11,1955, Serial No.521',048'

3 Claims. (Cl. 18934):

This. invention relates to a. device. or nailing v strip for securing panels,.such as plasterboard and the like,.to .wall; andceiling structure inroomsso as-to provide. side walls, or a ceiling, or both: for a'roomwith space behind the.

panels for air or. for fibrous or other insulatingmaterial;

One. of the objectsis the provisionofsimple, economical and easily used means. for supporting wall panels.

suchas. plasterboard and thelike, spaced-from amasonry wall:of concrete, or. blocksofeconcrete or the..like,.brick, or. other material.

A. still further object of the inventionis the provision of simple, economical and easily used means-that.iswnon moisture absorbent, and that. is:not. subject-to. deteriora-.- tion from moisture, nor warpage, etc.,.for'supportingwall panels coplanar on roomwall'structure spacedfromsuch structure, andwhich means providesfor nailinggsuchwall panelsthereto.

One of the problems in buildings having outer walls; of masonry is to secure wall panels, suchas plasterboard, to said walls'inspaced relation thereto so 3S.t(). providea spacez between the masonry walls for heat insulation,

whether merely air or one of the many insulation matee rials. Plasterboard, which includes panels of gypsum and any of-the preformed panels, plywood, etc., areznormallynailed in position. Theprovision of wooden strips or studding; is not satisfactory, because,- among: other.

objections, they are moisture absorbent and aresubject todeterioration, warpage, insect infestation, etc. ,,and. are

expensive and difiicult to secureto-masonry, flammable and-occupy an excessive amount ofspace.

The outer walls of masonry; provide adequate strength.-

for supporting the inside wall-panels, hence, there'isno need to provide means for securing the panels-imposition. that must also provide.- structional strength for the build ing walls. The panels themselves are selfsupporting, ,but. must be held in position, and one object of. thepresent. invention is to provide the means for. soholding the.

panelsin said positionby nailing said panels to saidzmeans in. the same manner as though-the panels were nailed towood, but which means is free from the objections to the use. of wood and may readily be secured-to the masonry walls.

Also, in suspendedceilingsor ceilings suspended below ceiling joists or beams, difficulty hasheretoforebeen had in making such a' suspended ceiling of plasterboard or: panels. Here again, wood isnotsuitable,.bei ng'awkwardto. handle, heavy, subject to warpage under changes in temperature. and heat, expensive and. diflicult to secure. 7

in position.

One of" the objects of. the. present invention is. pro- I 2,904,140 Patented Sept. 15, 1959 ice vision. of, means, for overcoming the aboveobjctions, and. the provision -of' means to. which the panels. may. he.

secured'by nails in such a. manner thatthe nails willlhef more secure when driven. into said means, thanwhen' driven into. wood.

Other.objctsandadvantages will'appearin the.descripi- Fig... 4. is an enlarged. fragmentary; perspective. vie.W,.

partly. in. section, showing the method. of securing the panelsupport to theimprovedhanger. of Fig, 3.. Fig.v 5 isa.fragmentarysectional viewshowing .the. man:

neraof securing the hanger to the nailingstrip to.-.which.

the ceiling panels are secured.

Fig. 6 is-afragmentary. side. elevational view of several. side. wall. panels secured to the device. of this invention, withthe latter secured toa masonry wall.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view along line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Big. 8 is:a fragmentary. elevational View inwhich the devicesv of. the presentinvention are securedby mastic tomasonry walls, and in which the .wall :panels are secured to said devices.

Figs. 1 and 2 are illustrative of a form. of the-inven-f tion'in. whichpanels 1 are ceiling-panels-which are. sus

pended below ceiling joists 2. Hangers 3 of wire. may be. secured to-theceiling joistsand. these hangers. carry, the angle strips 4-or. the like.

,Secured to these angle strips in crossing relation thereto are the nailing strips of the present invention. Clips, wires or any other suitable vmeansosecure thestrips-5.

Fig, 4 clearly showsthe. construction of. each nailing; strip, the latter being inthe form. of a channelhavingan open upper side, a bottom wall-7, and. opposed. side: walls, the latter being generally. designated 8. Eachside wall 8 is av double layer of the. material. of; said strip,

there. being'aninner. layerfi and. an outer. layer. 10..

Side walls 8progressively-curve outwardly indirection away from eachother in cross sectional. COB/[0111,0011]?- mencingfrom apoint spaced from the junctures between the inner layers 9: and the bottom wall-7.

This resultsin providing substantially planar. flangesll. v

along the. free. edges of'the. side walls. The. inner and.

outer layers. 9, 10 are integrally joined along. said: free. edges, with the latter being curved. in cross sectionaL.

The outer layers10. of side wallsS terminate-.in'free edges 12 adjacent to the bottomwall 7, and the marginal.-v

portions 13 along said free-v edges 12are preferablyinclined or curved in directionaway'from the. edges Ofillhfi bottom wall that are adjacent thereto.

Between layers 9, 10 0f the channel strip 5:is a filler 14. This filler may be'of fibrous, moisture resistant: mate. rial. A. strip of 60 lb. asphalt or. tar paper: hasbeen.

found to be suitable, and the use of such a strip between.

theinner. and outer. layers9, -10..of each of. the.side.wa1l5 8,.not only-serves to uniformly space thelayers apart butv provides a'waterproof body having an. adhesivecharacteg 3 into which the nails 16 (Fig. 7) may be driven. This filler is firmly held between the layers 9, 10 by reason of the curvature forming the flanges 1'1, and the filler preferably extends into said flanges. The channel strip itself may be of say 26 gauge galvanized iron, which has been found to be suitable.

The space between the marginal portions 13 and the inner layers 9 at the bottom wall 7 provides a recess 15 extending longitudinally of the channel strip into which nails may be driven into the filler 14.

The flanges 11 are preferably apertured equal distances apart,.as at 18,for the wire 6 that secures the flanges against the angle strips 4, or nails may be driven through said apertures into wood or masonry.

In operation, after the nailing strips are secured to the angle strips 4, the panels 1 are nailed to said strips, said nails extending through the panels and into recesses 15 and the filler .14.

The'nailing strips may be arranged so that a strip will be positioned along each of two opposite edges of the panels, with the marginal portions along each such edge extending approximately halfway across the width of the bottom wall 7 of each strip. Obviously any desired number of nailing strips may be positioned between the two that are at the two opposite edges of each panel. By this arrangement, one nailing strip will be common to the adjacent marginal portions of a pair of adjacent panels.

When nails 16 are driven into the filler 14, the nails will bend to conform to the curvature of the side walls and will thus be held against withdrawal independently of the frictional resistance between the nails and the filler. By using the filler as a spacer between the layers 9, 10, it has been found that the nails driven into the filler will each have substantially the same holding power, a result that would not occur were the layers 9, not spaced apart.

In Figs. 3, 4, 5, a special hanger 20 is used instead of the wires 3 of Fig. l, and in this instance the bottom wall 7 of each nailing strip is provided with spaced slots 21 extendinglongitudinally of said bottom wall. The material 22 that is struck from the bottom wall to form each slot may be unsevered from the bottom wall and disposed within the channel of each strip at one end of each slot.

Each hanger 20 may be a metal strap adapted to be nailed or otherwise suitably secured at one end to the ceiling joists 23, and the lower end of each strap has a laterally opening notch 24 in one edge.

These hangers may be secured to the joists as seen in Fig.,3,'and their lower ends are then inserted into the slots 21 with the bottom wall 7 at one end of each slot disposed in each notch 24. The material 22 is then knocked down against the edge of the strap that is opposite to each notch and the nailing strip will be secured to the hangers against withdrawel of the latter from the slots.

The panels 1 will then be nailed to the nailing strips the same as has been described for the form of invention described in Fig. 1. It should be noted that the adjacent edges of adjacent panels may be recessed for the slightly protruding end 30 (Fig. 5) of each hanger, or a slight space may be left, which will readily be filled with plaster. These hangers are preferably used only along the adjacent edges of adjacent panels.

Figs. 6, 7 show a nailing strip 5 of the type already described, secured by nails 26 to a masonry wall 25. The space between the panels and such wall may be left open to provide for air insulation or insulating material 27.

In Fig. 8, mastic 28 is the medium that is used for securing the flanges to the masonry wall. In this instance, if desired, slots 29 may be formed in the flanges 11 into which the mastic may be forced if more than normal securement is needed, although this is not ordinarily nec essary.

By the structure shown and described, the panels may be nailed to each strip along one or two lines, since there are two open recesses in each strip for nails. The trail- 4 ing strips are rigid, and the nails will be securely held to the strips. The recesses at their outwardly opening sides are wide enough to permit slight variations in the positions of the nails without affecting the holding characteristics of the nailing strip.

I claim:

1. A nailing strip comprising: a channel strip having opposed side walls, a bottom wall integrally connected along two of its opposite edges with one of the corresponding edges of said side walls, said channel strip having a fully open side opposite to said bottom wall, extensions on said side walls integral therewith along their edges remote from said bottom wall extending over the oppositely outwardly facing sides of said side walls and terminating in free edges extending along and spaced from the junctures between said side walls and said bottom wall, said side walls and said extensions at opposite sides of said channel strip being curved oppositely outwardly along said open side remote from said bottom wall providing coplanar flanges at the juncture of said side walls and said extensions projecting away from each other adapted to be positioned flat against building structure adapted to be connected thereto, said side walls and said extensions being apart for receiving nails therebetween along said opposite edges of said bottom wall.

2. A device for use in securing wall panels, such as plasterboard and the like, to the walls of a room in spaced opposed relation thereto, comprising: a channel strip having a pair of opposed side walls, a flat bottom wall integrally connected along two of its opposite edges with one of the corresponding edges of said pair of side walls, and having an open side opposite to said bottom wall; said side walls having extensions respectively integrally connected therewith along each of said corresponding edges, said extensions being in spaced opposed relation to the oppositely outwardly facing surfaces of said side walls and terminating in free edges that are substantially coplanar with said bottom wall and adjacent to said opposite edges of said bottom wall, said pair of side walls including the said extensions respectively integrally connected therewith being bent oppositely outwardly along the junctures between said side walls and said extensions to provide substantially coplanar flanges, said flanges being formed with openings for connectors adapted to hold said flanges against a surface adapted to be engaged by said flanges, the side of said bottom wall opposite to said open side of said channel being adapted for engaging a side of plasterboard and the like in a position extending across said free edges of said extensions and said extensions being spaced from said side walls for receiving nails extending through such plasterboard into the space between each extension and the side wall adjacent thereto.

3. A device for use in securing wall panels, such as plasterboard and the like, to the walls of a room in spaced opposed relation thereto, comprising: a channel strip having a pair of opposed side walls, a flat bottom wall integrally connected along two of its opposite edges with one of the corresponding edges of said pair of side walls, and having an open side opposite to said bottom wall; said side walls having extensions respectively integrally connected therewith along each of said corresponding edges, said extensions being in spaced opposed relation to the oppositely outwardly facing surfaces of said side walls and terminating in free edges that are substantially coplanar with said bottom wall and adjacent to said opposite edges of said bottom wall, said pair of side walls including the said extensions respectively integrally connected therewith being bent oppositely outwardly along the junctures between said side walls and said extensions to provide substantially coplanar flanges, said flanges being formed with openings for connectors adapted to hold said flanges against a surface adapted to be engaged by said flanges, the side of said bottom wall opposite to said open side of said channel being adapted for engaging a side of plasterboard and the like in a position extending across said free edges of said extensions and said extensions being spaced from said side walls for receiving nails extending through such plasterboard into the space between each extension and the side wall adjacent thereto, said extensions each being substantially parallel with the side wall adjacent thereto from the terminating ends of said flanges where they are integrally united to the marginal portion of each extension along said free edge thereof, and said marginal portion of each extension along its said free edge being curved away from the side wall adjacent thereto to facilitate the entry of nails into the space between each extension and each side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Berson May 23, 1916 Basham June 20, 1916 Day Jan. 15, 1918 Price Apr. 22, 1947 Fischer Mar. 21, 1950 Leedy Oct. 30, 1951 Macomber Mar. 10, 1953 Fenske Jan. 26, 1954 Baker June 15, 1954 

